Is G Willickers Pub still open today?
Status: >> OPEN <<
(keep reading to learn what happened)
Season: 8 | View All Season 8 Episodes
Original Episode Air Date: April 10, 2022
The Bar's Original Name Was: G Willickers Pub
G Willickers Pub Address: 310 109th St Arlington, TX 76011
Episode Recap
G Willickers Pub was an Arlington, Texas bar that was featured on Season 8 of Bar Rescue.
Though the G Willickers Bar Rescue episode aired in April 2022, the actual filming and visit from Jon Taffer took place before that.
It was Season 8 Episode 16 and the episode name was “Doing It For Dad”.
G Willickers Pub is located in Arlington, TX.
Note – it’s spelled “Willickers” – it’s not G. Willigers Pub or G Willikers Bar.
Arlington, TX is located in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area.
In fact, it’s right between Dallas and Fort Worth.
It’s also the home of the Dallas Cowboys football team.
This is relevant because G Willickers Pub is actually located pretty close to the stadium.
It’s about a 6 minute drive from the bar to the stadium, which means it’s close enough to benefit from all the games and events at the stadium.
Obviously, that’s big business for the pub on game days.
The Gee Willickers Pub was originally opened by Clarence Grider all the way back in 2006.
This means that it had been around for 16 years before Jon Taffer came through the door to teach everyone how to embrace solutions.
It had a very “homey” feel, where everyone knew everyone’s name.
For example, the bar had Thanksgiving parties every year where people who didn’t have a place to go could come and hang out.
Clarence was always at the bar taking care of customers and employees.
Sadly, Clarence passed away in 2019 due to lung cancer on New Year’s Day
At that time, the bar’s ownership passed to Clarence’s wife, Karen.
Clarence was diagnosed with cancer three months after their marriage, so he had already started teaching her the ropes.
To make the tragedy even worse, Karen (Clarence’s wife) also passed away in 2020.
At that time, the ownership of the bar passed to Clarence’s three daughters:
- Carmen
- Caseye
- Carrie
The family definitely has a thing for names starting with a “C”, right?
However, after a year of running the bar, it’s become clear that the three sisters don’t have the skills to run the bar successfully yet.
At the time of the G Willickers Jon Taffer visit, the bar was losing a massive $100,000 per month.
That’s one of the biggest losses that I’ve seen on Bar Rescue.
That equates to over $1 million in lossesin a year, which is obviously impossible for any bar to absorb.
I guess that location close to the stadium ain’t cheap.
The sisters seem a bit overwhelmed, like they’re kind of playing “whack a mole” with the bar.
With a lot of bar owners that appear on Bar Rescue, it’s easy to mock their lack of knowledge because they purchased a bar without any experience.
But in this case, the sisters didn’t ask to run the bar – it was pushed on them by really unfortunate circ*mstances.
As a result, I think it’s natural to feel sympathy for them – definitely more than the average owner that appears on Bar Rescue.
Because of the bar’s long history, Jon Taffer opted not to change the name.
Instead, he kept the G Willicker’s Pub name but gave it some love and also helped train the sisters and put in place systems to make the bar a working business.
He did shorten it on some signage, though.
You’ll see it as The GW on some signs, but the full name is still G Willickers Pub.
So was the G Willickers Pub Bar Rescue episode a long-term success?
Keep reading my update to learn what happened next and if this Arlington, TX bar is still open in 2024.
G Willickers Pub Update - What Happened Next?
Now that we’ve recapped the episode, let’s talk about what happened to the bar after Jon Taffer and the crew left Arlington, TX.
Because the bar kept the name, there was no big shift from before/after in terms of branding.
Instead, the changes were more about updating the interior and training the sisters to be able to run the bar more effectively.
So – did Jon Taffer’s changes work at G. Willicker’s Pub?
Is G Willickers from Bar Rescue still open?
As of 2023, G Willickers is still open and serving customers in Arlington, TX under the original G Willickers Pub name.
They’re very active on the G Willickers Facebook page, regularly posting about upcoming events and specials.
Obviously, they have a lot of sports events, even buying a popcorn machine to have fresh popcorn during the games:
They also have karaoke and other fun stuff like a “battle of the bartenders”.
Carmen, one of the sisters from the episode, also commented on the post below confirming that G Willickers is still open and the sisters are still the owners.
Here’s what the G Willikers Arlingon Texas location looks like in the most recent picture from Google Maps street view:
Reviews for the bar after the visit from Jon Taffer seem to generally be quite good, though there have been some negative ones as well.
Here are some of the positive reviews from Yelp or Google Reviews.
Google Reviews:
Had a wonderful night at G Willickers!
Clean, cozy watering hole that had great atmosphere, attitude and entertainment.
Karaoke sound and catalog was phenomenal, bar staff was friendly and attentive!
For a couple of random strangers walking in they treated us like regulars- will always make sure to stop by G Willickers when in Dallas area!
Google Reviews:
We stumbled across this place by accident last year when we moved to the area.
We love the atmosphere and the fact that there’s karaoke every night!!!
My drinks are always just right also!
Great job!
Yelp:
Fantastic place. Went for Wrestlemania weekend.
The bartender, owners, regulars were extremely friendly.
Will definitely come back when in Arlington.
Great drinks at a great price.
Bartender hand made of lead, so drinks are a lil strong and I have no problems with that at all.
I also like this review from Google:
I’m just gonna say this.
I got hammered last night.
And there was no shot at me driving home.
I could hardly talk. I couldn’t open my eyes.
I remember going to my car (no intention of driving) and at some point the people noticed I wasn’t doing so good.
They took care of me in a sense.
Pretty sure the bartender fed me crackers and water and kept me cool.
I woke up in the back seat of my car.
With my keys stashed in a place only sober me could find.
It may not sound like much.
But def good ppl here.
Kudos for stopping drunk driving!
The bar also seems to be quite active.
They recently launched a new website right before the Bar Rescue episode originally aired on TV.
The also had a Bar Rescue watch party at the bar, where they gave out champagne in celebration of the show.
So it also seems like they enjoyed their experience on Bar Rescue and appreciated the help from Jon Taffer and his crew.
If you’re in the Arlington, TX area and you want to check out G Willicker’s Pub, you can learn more at the official G Willicker’s website.
They also have an active G Willicker’s Instagram account.
Overall, the G Willikers Bar Rescue episode seems like a real success so far!
I’m glad the sisters are doing well and the bar is still open, and congrats to everyone involved.
Jon Taffer also visited two other Texas bars in the previous episodes of Season 8.
You can check out those updates here:
- Char BBQ / The Brick Tavern update
- Ace’s Sports Hangar update
For some other nearby Texas Bar Rescue episodes, you can also read my updates for Mary’s Outpost / Thirsty’s Roadside Bar (very close in Fort Worth), Stampede Saloon / Whiskey Girl in Fort Worth, and JB Taco / Harbor Point in Richardson.
And if you want to share your thoughts on the episode, you can do so using the comments section below.
Thanks for reading!
More Information
https://www.yelp.com/biz/g-willickers-pub-arlington
https://www.facebook.com/GWillickersPub/
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And don't forget to check out all of the other Bar Rescue updates.
Last updated: 2023-12-19 04:55
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